Repeater Guidelines
River City ARCS Repeater Usage Guidelines
The following information is a simple guide to courteous operation on our repeaters, they come from various sources, and are not intended to be a "rule book". If you operate by these simple guidelines, you will surely always be welcomed on any of our repeaters.
Even "mild" obscenities are not good operating practice. This includes suggestive phrases, and suggestive phonetics § 97.113(4).
Do not monopolize the repeater. If 90% of the conversations for long periods of time, night after night or day after day, include you and one or two others, something is wrong. If other hams turn off their radios for big blocks of time because they can hardly talk to someone other than you, something is wrong. You do not own nor single-handedly finance the repeater. It is supposed to be a shared resource. Don't drive other people off the air.
If you feel compelled to interrupt an existing conversation, remember that it is no more polite to do so on the air than if you did it in person. Would you barge into a roomful of people engaged in a discussion without saying anything of interest? ...or even worse, saying something completely unrelated to the topic of conversation?
Ignore jammers and others who try to disrupt the repeater's normal operation. Without any reaction from the repeater users, they will have no audience and probably go away in short order.
Transmit your call sign when you first come on the air. Make sure you ID once every ten minutes § 97.119, but there is no need to identify too often. Ignore stations who break-in without identifying.
Do not use the word "break" to join a conversation. It is not considered good operating practice and in some circles the word "break" is reserved for announcing emergencies. The appropriate amateur radio term is break-in. If you simply want to join in, just transmit your call sign.
Promptly acknowledge any break-in stations and permit them to join the conversation or make a quick call.
The commuting hours (drive times) should be left to the many mobile stations who have limited time to converse. Home based stations should refrain from frequent or prolonged use of the repeater during these hours. The repeater is there to help extend the range of mobiles and portables, so be courteous and give them priority during commuting hours.
Following a round table or rotation format is the best way for three or more to participate. Don't ignore people by not passing it to them for several turns. Not all repeaters have "courtesy tones". Sometimes we rely on courteous operators rather than courtesy tones. Provide a brief pause between transmissions in order to allow folks to join in. People breaking into a conversation should transmit their call sign when the current user unkeys. Do not wait for the repeater tail to drop.
Repeater users must comply with all provisions of FCC Part 97 Subpart B Station Operation Standards (§§ 97.101 - 97.121)
Adopted by the River City ARCS Board of Directors, 26 December 2017
